Revision of the Subgenus Ochthomantis Frogs from Madagascar (Amphibia: Mantellidae) with the Description of Four Species and Resurrection of Mantidactylus catalai and M. poissoni

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 17; p. 2800
• Main Authors: Rabibisoa, Nirhy H. C., Welt, Rachel S., Raxworthy, Christopher J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 03-09-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: 16S; cryptic species; Madagascar; Mantidactylus; Morphology; Museums; Ochthomantis; Taxonomy; Zoology; Antananarivo Madagascar; Madagascar
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani13172800

The subgenus Ochthomantis is an obligate forest and stream-dwelling group of mantellid frogs, endemic to Madagascar, with six species currently recognized. However, this group suffers from ongoing taxonomic confusion due to low numbers of examined specimens, and failure to consider morphological variation from development and sexual dimorphism. Here, we examined the morphology of 637 sexed adult specimens collected by us in the field and from other museum collections. We also sequenced a DNA fragment of the 16S mtDNA gene for each lineage to determine congruence between morphological and molecular data sets and to help delimit species. Our results demonstrate that the subgenus Ochthomantis includes eleven valid species: five already recognized, M. catalai and M. poissoni that we resurrect from synonymy, and four new species which we describe for the first time here. In some analyses, Mantidactylus majori groups with other Mantidactylus subgenera, so we do not consider it a member of the subgenus Ochthomantis in this study. All species have restricted distributions and elevational ranges in the humid forests of Madagascar. This study demonstrates the utility of assessing cryptic species using both diagnostic morphological characters and molecular data. The discovery of this new cryptic biodiversity, and the taxonomic revision herein, will likely require conservation activities for those species with the most restricted distributions.